This invention relates to an apparatus for two-sided printing. More particularly, this invention relates to an assembly responsive to computer generated signals for printing a document on two sides.
At the present time, thousands of banks, brokerage houses and other financial institutions are printing millions of weekly, bi-weekly and monthly statements on one side of pre-printed statement forms. For the most part, these statements are printed off of mainframe or large-scale mini-computers. Affordable printers capable of handling mainframe and mini-computer output are either chain or dot-matrix printers. Consequently, printing both sides of paper having the conventional quality would masticate the paper.
Conventional two-sided photocopying and book printing present problems which have perhaps inhibited efforts to develop two-sided printing of financial type statements. Such problems include a warping of the paper which results from the high levels of heat employed. More moisture flees from the side of the paper in contact with the heated elements than from the more remote side of the paper. In addition, the deposition of electrostatic charges causes the paper sheets to cling to one another and to other surfaces. Both the warping of the paper sheets and the deposited electrostatic charge cause paper jams in the machinery. Avoiding or clearing the paper jams requires personnel to be present to monitor and correct problems as they occur. Sometimes, papers printed on one side are placed aside for flattening prior to printing on the opposite side. Such efforts increase costs and delay the production of the desired documents.